Using a minimum of six quality sources located through HCC Library online resources, compose a 1,200-word argumentative research essay following MLA Style guidelines in response to an effective and interesting research question focusing on artificial intelligence or on social media.
For this essay, choose one AI- or social media-related issue to understand and analyze. Narrow your topic so that you can isolate something that you can argue for or against because there are multiple perspectives on it. Your essay will consider one or more other viewpoints in the counterargument(s) but most of your essay will focus on the conclusions drawn by your critical thinking on your research.
Before writing, using HCC Library online resources locate, select, and document relevant sources that correspond to tiers 1-3 as defined in Chapter 4: Secondary Sources in Their Natural HabitatLinks to an external site..
An inquiry-based argumentative essay bases its thesis and conclusions on the most compelling arguments and findings based on the research encountered. This differs from what is referred to as “thesis-driven” writing and research where the writer starts off with a conclusion in mind and seeks out sources only to support that conclusion. In your essay, present your claim in the form of an argument by supporting your claim with evidence, objectively presenting counter arguments found through your research, and defending your conclusions in light of those alternative views.
An argumentative essay presents a claim based on the results of the research and supports that claim by pointing to the main ideas and examples from the research using summary, paraphrase and quotation as appropriate. All of the material covered in our textbook Writing for College: From Competence to Excellence is applicable for this assignment–identifying quality sources through research, joining academic conversations, crafting and supporting three story thesis statements to articulate claims and implications, effectively incorporating source material, composing insightful topic/key sentences that coherently and cohesively integrate into the development of ideas, etc.
A meaningful starting point for research would be the Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints available through the HCC Library through the following link:
Artificial Intelligence:
https://link.gale.com/apps/portal/00000000LVVB/OVIC?u=colu91149&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=de0ec11bLinks to an external site.
Social Media:
https://link.gale.com/apps/portal/00000000LVY8/OVIC?u=colu91149&sid=OVIC&xid=7403f3b0 Links to an external site.
Length and Format
- Minimum 1,200 words
- MLA-style format
- In-text citations and a works cited page are required for this assignment
- Minimum of four sources taken from the Library’s Electronic Databases
Purpose
The end goal will be to produce a scholarly essay that articulates a research interest, summarizes and critically-engages sources in response to that interest, and draws on that engagement in support of making an argument in relation to those sources and your research interest.
Here is a set of criteria that breaks down the assignment in more detail and that will serve as the grading criteria for the final product you will produce for this unit:
- Clearly articulate the writer’s central line of inquiry
- Maintain a clear purpose for writing that grows out of the writer’s inquiry
- Make strategic composing decisions in response to the writer’s rhetorical situation
- Provide relevant background information and definitions of key terms
- Introduce, summarize, and otherwise integrate sources effectively and ethically, through paraphrase and direct quotation, while providing insight into the rhetorical situations of those sources and breakdowns of their arguments
- Critically engage sources’ perspectives through interpretation, analysis, and critique in service of making a logical, well-supported argument that makes connections between sources and contributes to the conversation taking place around the writer’s topic
- Meet academic expectations for clarity, cohesion, organization, paragraph structure, grammar, and mechanics
- Properly cite sources—both in-text and through an accompanying works cited page—in accordance with MLA Style guidelines
- Achieve a length of between 1,200 and 2,400 words (5-10 pages)
- Document sources with in-text and works cited citations following current MLA guidelines.
- Critically engage sources through interpretation, analysis, and/or critique in service of developing and supporting logical, well-defined claims.
- Construct texts by working through varying stages of the writing process.
- Locate, evaluate, and integrate appropriate sources accurately and fairly through paraphrase and direct quotation.